Hello Everyone,Following the great response re furniture donations / collections earlier, I'm delighted to add more good news with this May newsletter. As the end of this school year is fast approaching, we are very much looking forward to opening in our permanent building in September. It is very exciting and it's amazing how far we've come from our first day in Tymon Bawn Community Centre in 2013. Thank you to all of you, Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Board of Management for taking this journey with us and supporting our school in every possible way over the past four years.

This term so far has been busily active working towards our Active School Flag (see below) and standardised testing is currently underway. We have a very interesting schedule for the rest of the term too, as follows:School Calendar May - June:11th May: Martial Arts Club Tallaght will do a training session with all classes.11th May: Student Council Meeting: completing design for Student Council Badges; letter to Board of Management requesting funds to buy games for use in the yard during break times. 17th May: 7pm: Information meeting for parents/guardians of Senior Infants and 2nd Class on Stay Safe Programme.18th May: Morning: All Classes: Mosque, Clonskeagh.(Dates to be confirmed to visit local Catholic Church and Synagogue in Terenure).18th May: Afternoon: All Classes: Taking part in National Outdoor Learning Day: Forest School Activities.24th May: Every Wednesday Morning from 24th May to 28th June join us for 'Move It Mornings' led by Dora.24th May: Infant Classes: Glenroe Farm, Wicklow. 24th May: Our first Green School Flag will be presented in the Helix Theatre.25th May: 8.25am in yard: our School Choir will sing 'Try Everything'; whole school will then join in to sing our 'School Anthem'.1st June: Student Council Meeting: Agenda to be confirmed;19th June: First and Second Classes: Lullymore Heritage Park, Kildare.20th June: Dogs' Trust will visit all classes.22nd - 29th June: Display of Homework Choice from each class in the school building.23rd June: Infant Classes: Mill Theatre, Dundrum: James and the Giant Peach.24th June: Family Fun Day Fundraiser Date to be confirmed by PGTA Committee.27th or 28th June (weather dependent): All Classes: Sport for All Day in field behind Firhouse Community Centre: Parents are very welcome from 12.30 to 13.10 / 14.10.29th June: In Class performances: details to follow from class teachers; Music session by 'Seo Linn' pending confirmation.30th June: School closes at the normal times for Summer Holidays.3rd - 7th July: Summer Camp with Rachael and Conor.Please let Class Teachers know if you're interested in accompanying your child's class on any of the tours/visits above. Should there be more parents interested than the tour can accommodate, the children will draw names from a hat to select which parents will accompany their class. Usually it's two parents per class depending on seats being available on the bus.

Open Day visits for new Junior Infant Classes 2017-18:Our first open day is taking place on Friday afternoon 12th May and there will be a second open day on Friday 9th June.We are looking forward to welcoming new pupils and their parents into our school community.

Active Schools Week:The children experienced many new sports:1st and 2nd Classes visited the Astopark in Tallaght where they had great fun practising ball skills; they also did a MIni Spikers Volleyball coaching session and Firhouse Carmel Football Club coach Mick Byrne did soccer coaching with them.Tug of War Tuesday was a huge hit especially when all the classes kept beating the teachers' team.Move It Mornings led by Dora, and teachers were energising and are set to continue with Dora until the end of term. Laser Run sessions were held for all classes by the Irish Pentathlon National Team.Martial Arts to follow tomorrow May 11th (as per above).Check out the Junior Infant Classes' Active Homework on the website.

Homework Choice: In the coming week another Homework Choice page will be issued to each class. The last one was a major success and showed so many creative and imaginative ways of presenting homework. Please note the choice is in which item your child chooses to do. Please ensure your child makes their own choice on what to do and that they do all of the work themselves. Second stream: D

Hello Everyone,Following the great response re furniture donations / collections earlier, I'm delighted to add more good news with this May newsletter. As the end of this school year is fast approaching, we are very much looking forward to opening in our permanent building in September. It is very exciting and it's amazing how far we've come from our first day in Tymon Bawn Community Centre in 2013. Thank you to all of you, Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Board of Management for taking this journey with us and supporting our school in every possible way over the past four years.

This term so far has been busily active working towards our Active School Flag (see below) and standardised testing is currently underway. We have a very interesting schedule for the rest of the term too, as follows:School Calendar May - June:11th May: Martial Arts Club Tallaght will do a training session with all classes.11th May: Student Council Meeting: completing design for Student Council Badges; letter to Board of Management requesting funds to buy games for use in the yard during break times. 17th May: 7pm: Information meeting for parents/guardians of Senior Infants and 2nd Class on Stay Safe Programme.18th May: Morning: All Classes: Mosque, Clonskeagh.(Dates to be confirmed to visit local Catholic Church and Synagogue in Terenure).18th May: Afternoon: All Classes: Taking part in National Outdoor Learning Day: Forest School Activities.24th May: Every Wednesday Morning from 24th May to 28th June join us for 'Move It Mornings' led by Dora.24th May: Infant Classes: Glenroe Farm, Wicklow. 24th May: Our first Green School Flag will be presented in the Helix Theatre.25th May: 8.25am in yard: our School Choir will sing 'Try Everything'; whole school will then join in to sing our 'School Anthem'.1st June: Student Council Meeting: Agenda to be confirmed;19th June: First and Second Classes: Lullymore Heritage Park, Kildare.20th June: Dogs' Trust will visit all classes.22nd - 29th June: Display of Homework Choice from each class in the school building.23rd June: Infant Classes: Mill Theatre, Dundrum: James and the Giant Peach.24th June: Family Fun Day Fundraiser Date to be confirmed by PGTA Committee.27th or 28th June (weather dependent): All Classes: Sport for All Day in field behind Firhouse Community Centre: Parents are very welcome from 12.30 to 13.10 / 14.10.29th June: In Class performances: details to follow from class teachers; Music session by 'Seo Linn' pending confirmation.30th June: School closes at the normal times for Summer Holidays.3rd - 7th July: Summer Camp with Rachael and Conor.Please let Class Teachers know if you're interested in accompanying your child's class on any of the tours/visits above. Should there be more parents interested than the tour can accommodate, the children will draw names from a hat to select which parents will accompany their class. Usually it's two parents per class depending on seats being available on the bus.

Open Day visits for new Junior Infant Classes 2017-18:Our first open day is taking place on Friday afternoon 12th May and there will be a second open day on Friday 9th June.We are looking forward to welcoming new pupils and their parents into our school community.

Active Schools Week:The children experienced many new sports:1st and 2nd Classes visited the Astopark in Tallaght where they had great fun practising ball skills; they also did a MIni Spikers Volleyball coaching session and Firhouse Carmel Football Club coach Mick Byrne did soccer coaching with them.Tug of War Tuesday was a huge hit especially when all the classes kept beating the teachers' team.Move It Mornings led by Dora, and teachers were energising and are set to continue with Dora until the end of term. Laser Run sessions were held for all classes by the Irish Pentathlon National Team.Martial Arts to follow tomorrow May 11th (as per above).Check out the Junior Infant Classes' Active Homework on the website.

Homework Choice: In the coming week another Homework Choice page will be issued to each class. The last one was a major success and showed so many creative and imaginative ways of presenting homework. Please note the choice is in which item your child chooses to do. Please ensure your child makes their own choice on what to do and that they do all of the work themselves. Second Stream: During the Spring Holidays the Department of Education and Skills approved the opening of a second stream of Junior Infants in our school for September 2017. While the numbers enrolling in the class are growing steadily, there are still places available. We are very happy with the opening of this new class both for the families who were disappointed earlier in the year and for the growth of our school community.The Department of Education and Skills has issued Circular 10032/2017 requiring schools to introduce cost cutting for parents by phasing out workbooks. Our Booklists for 2017 - 2018 have been amended accordingly and as much as is possible with the textbooks currently available. We will revise our Booklists again next year in light of this circular. Please let us know your thoughts on having more rental of books instead of using workbooks. The Suggestion Box in reception area can be used for submissions or you are most welcome to phone/call in and have a chat with me. Policies: Drafts of the updated Dress Code, the Health and Safety Policy, the Relationships and Sexuality Policy and the Attendance Strategy will all be available from tomorrow on the website. Please let us know your recommendations on same before June 1st 2017. This will enable the Board of Management to make decisions on your recommendations before the end of the school year.Moving Committee: Please let Darren (Dad of Simon in 1st Class) or me know if you are free to help with cleaning furniture / packing up during the first week of July and or the last week of August.All of us here in the school are looking forward to the children enjoying lots of outdoor activities and all of the planned visits in the coming weeks.Please give me a call on 087 330 1332 (after 13.10 please) if there's anything you'd like to chat about.Very best regards,ColletteCollette Dunne: Principal: Firhouse ETNS Tel. 087 330 1332The Department of Education and Skills has issued Circular 10032/2017 requiring schools to introduce cost cutting for parents by phasing out workbooks. Our Booklists for 2017 - 2018 have been amended accordingly and as much as is possible with the textbooks currently available. We will revise our Booklists again next year in light of this circular. Please let us know your thoughts on having more rental of books instead of using workbooks. The Suggestion Box in reception area can be used for submissions or you are most welcome to phone/call in and have a chat with me. Policies: Drafts of the updated Dress Code, the Health and Safety Policy, the Relationships and Sexuality Policy and the Attendance Strategy will all be available from tomorrow on the website. Please let us know your recommendations on same before June 1st 2017. This will enable the Board of Management to make decisions on your recommendations before the end of the school year.Moving Committee: Please let Darren (Dad of Simon in 1st Class) or me know if you are free to help with cleaning furniture / packing up during the first week of July and or the last week of August.All of us here in the school are looking forward to the children enjoying lots of outdoor activities and all of the planned visits in the coming weeks.Please give me a call on 087 330 1332 (after 13.10 please) if there's anything you'd like to chat about.Very best regards,ColletteCollette Dunne: Principal: Firhouse ETNS Tel. 087 330 1332